We are 2 months through 2011 and it's time to check in on how Sanibel Island real estate is shaping up.  I can confirm - things are getting better - inventory is moving and people are buying!

Last February there were 18 Sanibel Island real estate sales.  In February 2011 there have been 25.  That's almost a 40% increase.  The breakdown goes as follows:

                                          2010                     2011
Sanibel Houses                   9                           13
Sanibel Condos                   7                           11
Sanibel Vacant Land           2                             1

This brings our total houses sold in 2011 to 24 and our total number of Condos to 22.  Things are definitely improving.  Particularly when you see that there are 49 Pending sales on Sanibel as well.

Are there any "Hot" neighborhoods?  The answer is a resounding yes!  Of the 24 houses sold on Sanibel thus far in 2011, 9 of them were located in the Dunes!   For more about The Dunes, Click the photo or Click Here!

Contact me if you would like more detail on these numbers or would like to check out Sanibel Real Estate!

  

Last night I attended a talk sponsored by the Bayous Preservation Association on the current status of Blind Pass.  The guest speaker was from the Lee County Department of Natural Resources, Engineer - Robert Neal. As background - Blind Pass, which had been closed for 5+ years was re-opened  and improved the water flow between the Gulf of Mexico and Pine Island Sound and also improved the flushing of Dinkins and Clam Bayous so much so that the birds and fish have returned in abundance.. 

The good news from last night is that they are monitoring the situation.  The bad news is that it seems as though, until the Pass is actually closed, they will not take any action to re-dredge.  April is the decision month and that seems very far away when on a daily basis the opening appears smaller and more shallow.  At question seems to be the definition of "open".  Mr. Neal kept repeating the idea that the pass needed to be "open" and that didn't mean for navigational purposes but for water flow.  He presented several charts with water flow rates, both projected and actual and it appeared, from my naive perspective, that the estimates were way off.  This raised the question from the audience about who had made the projections and perhaps they needed different folks to do it because the ones who did weren't very good at their job.  Perhaps true.

My other side tells me that people have been messing around with Mother Nature for a long time and the past history shows that she will do what she wants, when she wants and how she wants regardless of what the humans want.  I came away last night feeling that the government agencies were trying to do the best job they could however it wasn't with any type of pro-active intent.  They continue to react and as a result, should Blind Pass close, it won't be until September or October of this year that we will get the dredge back to re-open it.  Additionally, the permit only allows them to re-dredge the approved area from before, even though it is evident at this time that a different channel is what Mother wants.

Only time will tell how this story ends.......

Hi all you Sanibel Island lovers!

It is the first week of February and the islands are hopping!  Likely due to the rough weather up north (I had to arrange to have 4 feet of snow removed from my folks home in Connecticut so I get it!) there are a lot of visitors here and many Sanibel Real Estate and Captiva Real Estate inquiries - yeah!

This activity prompted me to take a look at the number of Sanibel real estate closings last January and the number of closings this January.  Lo and behold, there were 18 in 2010 and 22 in 2011.  Given January typically isn't our month with the greatest number of closed sales, can we make the jump to believe that this year may have more closings than last?  I think we can.  If we get an additional 4 closings per month for the year, or 48 additional closings - we are on track to resume our more typical absorption rate of available Sanibel Island real estate inventory.  This is good news for sellers and is even more motivation for buyers to get on it!    If Sanibel Island has always been your dream - let me help you realize it while the prices are still low and the interest rates in your favor.